New Shoes...

Sam has been WAITING for his new shoes to come in the mail...

I came downstairs and saw this on the couch...

I figured that Sam opened his new pair of shoes...

He did and he loves them...

Feet Family...

Those chubby little toes just where yelling to be decorated...so I did and the boys let me!

A Tour with Jack...

We have more cupboards in place and while I took pictures, Jack kept showing up in them! He then came up, real close and said, " And now a close up of me." Anyway....

Where Jack is standing is where the old oven use to be. We have a pantry area and the fridge will fit in the big blank area. To the left is the stove top and to the right is the island.

A better angle of the stove top area...

Head down a little further, there will be the stove top (great for mac and cheese) and then we will have two ovens to the left of Jack. I have no idea why we have two ovens...Jason wanted two ovens and I said ok. The old french doors are the new windows...

Standing in the corner by the fridge, you can see the inside of the island. The microwave, sink and dishwasher are on this side. Jack can fit into the microwave and dishwasher areas...and my suitcase, which he was in while I posted this...

This is a view from the old french doors.

A view from the front door.... I think Jack was in the microwave or dishwasher area at this time.

And a different view...in case you haven't gotten enough views yet! The blank spots are where cupboards still need to be hung.
The big finish will be the bay window...it is to be put in some time this week...

(Oh...there's Jack!)

Gutted Bathroom..

Below is our bathroom. We officially have no running or flushing water on the main level...boys have adapted very easy... there is a tree around every corner!

And here is our toilet...nice lawn ornament. People tell me to put flowers in it, but it will be coming back inside, soon, hopefully! It is just so classy!

A New Adventure...

Sam decided that he would like to try riding the bus...

so on the second day of school, we walked up the lane ...

and waited for the bus. He was nervous, but knew there were two friends on the bus waiting for him.

He got right on and off he went...my boy is getting older every day!

We Have Cupboards...

Or the starting of cupboards...

Here is the first official cupboards starting from right to left...a lazy susan (which Jack can fit into,) drawers, a pull out mini-pantry, drawers (above here will be our stove top) and a slotted cupboard for cookie sheets (for all the baking I do!)

Ohhhhh....pretty......pull out "min-pantry" (I have no idea what to put in there...)

And a "diagram" showing where things use to be....refer to this post if needed.

It is exciting to see the "kitchen" part starting to emerge...but we still have a long ways to go...

First Day of School Photos...

Sam had his first day of third grade yesterday and he LOVED it! the first challenge was to find a place to take some first day of photos...

We tried the backyard, but that didn't work...

We tried the front porch, but that didn't work...

So we tried a close up by a tree...but in the background, the window isn't done and the scaffolding is unsightly!

So we went back in and got some good shots with the big third grader!!

Jason and his boys...

Me and my third grader.

I am so excited about this year for Sam, maybe because I taught 3rd grade at the school he went to for 10 years! It also brings a tear to my eye, because I know all the changes that happen this year and how much the kids grow up.

As we were walking towards the car I said to Sam, "What will Jack and I do without you today!" He replied, "Don't worry mom, I will be back in the evenings and weekends to help you out." What a guy!!

The Tour Continues...

Worked on my photos yesterday and NOW there are loads to look at...

This picture is taken from the entry way of the sun room. The stove is on the right side of the picture...

From this angle you can see the kitchen window and the french doors in the dining room.

Here the window is boarded up. This is were our cook top will be located. The French doors are now big windows.

Here is a before shot of the french doors and dining room window... (the walls on the right were removed.)

...and the after shot of the large dining room windows and a new window on the left (the walls on the right were removed.)

This is right after the interior walls were removed...

The steel "tube" was the old laundry shoot. You can see the boarded up window and new dining room windows in the photo. I am standing at the front door.

This is after the laundry shoot was removed and the support board for the island was put in place.

And this is how the same area looks dry walled!

From the dining room, we go to the fire place...on the far right you can see the dining room window...

This is a before picture of the fireplace...

Here the fireplace is boarded up...

And this is what the fire place looks like now all dry walled...

The inner walls of the main floor...

The wall to the left of the couch is gone, as is the wall behind the TV... the wall that ate Sam's baseball! The kitchen was on the opposite side of the wall beside the couch.

Here is a view from a few steps back. you can see the staircase and the front door is on the right of the photo.

Here is a view of our previous hallway taken from the front door and looking into the kitchen. The walls on the left have also been removed.

And this picture is taken from standing in the old kitchen. You can see the bay window on the left side of the picture and all the walls have been removed. The two columns are the only parts of the wall that remain.

A Tour of Our First Floor...

Thought I would share loads of before and after photos and trying to get myself organized for an album, too! Am going to try to go around the room starting with the front window...

Photo 1: This is how the previous owners had the house set up before we bought it. The front door is on the left of the photo...

Photo 2: Same angle, but how we set it up. Behind the TV was a hallway. You can see a bit of wall on the left of this picture, which is no longer there.

Photo 3: How is looks as of yesterday. The entire area is now drywalled. Amazingly they did it all in one day! We added a closet between the window and the front door. It looks really tight, but there is a lot of room for the front door to open (should get a picture of that!)

Photo 4: This is closer shot of the closet. You cannot see the front door, it is to the left of the closet. Straight ahead we added an entry closet that will have a shelves, hooks, a bench and drawers. (will see a big explanation and description on that tomorrow!) On the far left side is the entry way to the sun room (you can see a bit of plastic over the doorway.)

Kitchen photos...

This is how the previous owners had the kitchen set up and painted. The door way to the sun room is on the right side of this picture. See the light switch on the right side of the picture, on the tan wall...that is where the left side of the new alcove is located.

This is the same angle, but how we had it set up...

The yellow spot is where the oven use to be. This is what the kitchen looked like last week. You can see the light switch on the right side of the picture.

And now it is drywalled. The large dry walled "half wall" is actually the base of our new island. The sink, dishwasher and microwave will be on this side of the island. (The large brown piece on the left is another sheet of drywall.) Notice the boarded up window on the previous picture is now a wall.

While making this post, I deleted a bunch of pictures, so tomorrow we will continue the tour!!